


Green Eyes

by Cherrie



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Healer Harry, Louis has some family issues, M/M, Niall is Draco and Harry's son, Nothing major though, OT5 Friendship, Teacher Louis, Ziall is married, some characters from HP are making a cameo or are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-19 07:52:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11308998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherrie/pseuds/Cherrie
Summary: Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Sometimes people who should be the closest to you are the ones you sometimes need to get away from, and sometimes just a job can turn into the most important thing in your life.





	Green Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phoenixflyinghigh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixflyinghigh/gifts).



> Hiii! I am terribly sorry this took so long but when I ask to pinch hit I was having some kind of a writting streak and then it went away so I was not able to write anything for days :( 
> 
> but it's here and I hope you like it :) If you do or you don't let me know in the comments or on my [Tumblr](http://exquisitetrouble.tumblr.com)
> 
> Huuuuuge, massive thank you for lovely moderator of this exchange it was awesome to provide 2 fics :D and to my prompter- I kind of combined your two prompts together and I'm kinda feeling Ziall prequel :D 
> 
> and the biggest thank you to my [beta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tempolarriefics). Serena you are amazing xxxxx.

The train's wheels were letting out the periodic sound.  _ Choo Choo choo Choo. Choo Choo choo choo.  _ The kids were running around the train peeking in the department Louis was sitting in, giggling and shying away when they saw an adult inside. He just smirked, the smile covered by his old house scarf - green, turning a little grey over the years. Not so long ago, he was one of them.

 

He left Hogwarts seven years ago, none of which easy. No one told him that it would be so hard to find a job, especially in his field. Someone should open maybe just one more magical school. Because Louis wanted to teach and he was good at it. He was qualified to teach more than four subjects, but all he was left with was tutoring some home schooled wizards. But now his luck was about to turn. Because a few months ago his old potion professor reached out to him to replace him in that position and as a head of Slytherin. It turned out Draco had received a job offer from the Ministry of Magic, and considering how adamant ministry was towards queer wizards, not to mention that Draco was still considered a Death Eater even after all these years, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse in good conscience. 

 

So here Louis was on his way back to Hogwarts and he was beyond excited. Getting to see all of the old halls but with new and exciting features that were only unlocked for the faculty, getting his own living quarters that he could design however he pleased. Obviously his sex life would suffer a little since he couldn’t exactly pick up some muggle and bring him back to the castle, but wizards were still fair game.

 

Before he knew it they were at the Hogsmeade station and he heard a loud Irish voice rounding up freshmen just as professor Hagrid did in his time. He went in the direction of a blonde wizard, figuring he may as well catch a ride on the boat. 

 

‘Hi!’ He said politely with a small wave. ‘I’m Louis Tomlinson - the new potion professor?’ 

 

‘Louis Tomlinson!’ The guy yelled jovially. ‘Niall Malik! I’m Hogwarts Keeper of keys and grounds! Nice to meet ya!’

 

‘Likewise.’ Louis said, squeezing his hand. ‘You think I can catch a ride with you on the boat?’

 

‘Like the freshman you are?’ Niall teased happily.

 

‘There is a certain beauty in the symmetry of this I have to say I enjoy.’ Louis allowed with a small smile, prompting Niall to laugh loudly and unabashedly, even though Louis hadn’t said anything that funny. He supposed loud laughter might be Niall’s default expression. 

 

‘Come then!’ Niall said, arranging freshmen into a right line. Louis noticed that besides them the train station was nearly deserted, all of the older kids already having found their way to thestrals and were on the way to the castle. Teachers were probably already in Hogwarts and the ones that were not would be apparating there soon enough. He could have done the  same thing, but he wasn’t kidding when he said he enjoyed the symmetry of him coming back the same way he waltzed in when he was 11 and had just found out he was a wizard. 

 

He and Niall sat in the biggest boat and Niall flicked his hand making the lanterns on every boat come to life, eliciting a few gasps from kids. He also checked quickly for all the protective spells and then swiftly put the boats into motion, looking dreamily at the castle.

 

‘It’s not getting boring after all these years?’ Louis asked softly, like this night was too fragile to handle words.

 

‘After  _ all these years _ , maybe.’ Niall teased. ‘But I've been doing this only for four years since Hagrid moved to France and married Madame Maxine.’

 

‘I was kind of sad when I heard he moved away.’ Louis noted. ‘It was hard to imagine this place without Hagrid.’ 

 

‘Yeah, I know what you mean.’ Niall nodded. ‘That’s why I was a little hesitant at the beginning to take the job. But hell, being able to live here forever? That’s the dream. Hogwarts was my home ever since I first stepped inside these walls. It was the first thing that felt like home.’ He ended wistfully, and Louis felt a familiar tugging in his stomach.

 

Not because Niall had said something groundbreaking, but because his words pushed all the right buttons. He loved his family, he really did with all his heart, but being the only wizard in a muggle family that spent 10 months a year in the middle of nowhere made him feel a bit isolated no matter how much all of them tried not to let it. Hogwarts meant home and safety and acceptance when he was a kid, and it was the closest Louis ever got to being fully happy.

 

‘I recognise you, you know.’ Niall said after a bit. 

 

‘You do?’ 

 

‘Yeah. I mean I was two years below you in Hogwarts but you were The King of the place. Everybody knew you.’ Niall shrugged.

 

‘You make me sound like I’m Regina George.’ Louis breathed under his nose.

 

‘Who?’ Niall asked with furrowed eyebrows.

 

‘Oh right. You purebloods don’t know anything about the muggles.’ Louis smiled, making Niall’s face fall and avoid his gaze.

 

‘I’m not a pure  _ blood.’  _ He said, for some reason putting extra emphasis on the word.

 

‘Then how do you not know who Regina George is?’ Louis asked incredulously.

 

Niall looked down at the bottom of the boat before looking up to the castle again with a wistful smile.

 

‘Guess it’s just one of those things.’ He shrugged finally making Louis stop asking questions, due to a sudden realisation.

 

‘You’re Draco’s and Harry’s son,’ he said tentatively.

 

‘Yeah.’ Niall nodded. ‘Dad asked me to give you a tour of the castle.’ He added then, smiling like he was trying to change the subject.

 

Louis couldn’t blame him. The memory was dusty in his mind, especially since the whole thing was kept hush hush, since it involved  a minor but Niall - then Horan - showed up at Hogwarts during Louis’ fifth year, already behind schedule on everything and jumping at every sound, his magic so suppressed that he had a hard time with doing even the simplest of spells. He was rescued by Draco’s husband from his muggle home, his parents had been making him perform magic to muggles that paid tons of money to see the little magician. The problem was they didn’t know where the weird tricks were coming from until Niall got his Hogwarts letter, and instead of sending him to school they expected him to be able to perform without learning how to do magic at all. The older he got, the less his magic acted out on it’s own, the gift like every other sense more under control with his age. This prompted his biological parents to try to ‘trigger’ the magic somehow. Louis had heard quite a few gruesome stories about how innovative with ‘triggers’ they got.

 

From what he remembered, Niall was adopted by Draco and Harry and joined Hogwarts, scrambling to catch up with his year and even start doing magic at all. He flinched at himself for teasing the other boy - he hadn’t made the connection right away since he had never heard of a Niall Malik, he knew him only as Niall Malfoy-Potter, and now was beating himself up for it. 

 

‘Tour, huh?’ Louis smiled, going with the change of topic easily. ‘How is he anyway? I haven’t seen him since Hogwarts!’

 

‘Dad’s fine.’ He smiled happily. ‘Both of them are actually. They're pretty stoked about the job offer. The Ministry hiring a gay ex death eater is major.’ 

 

‘I’m pretty sure they still thought he would try to steal all of their secrets and bring them back Voldemort like three months ago. What changed their minds?’ Louis said ironically.

 

‘Who knows.’ Niall shrugged. ‘I mean my dads have been married for over a decade now. Maybe they finally realised that if it is a con on dad’s side, it would be an awful long time to play it. I mean I think that over a decade of pretending to love someone and having a kid with them would be too much, even for a Death Eater.’ Niall snorted.

 

They both laughed a bit, the prejudice towards Draco being nothing new to either of them. 

 

When they finally got to the castle, Louis squeezed Niall’s shoulder and moved out of the way, apparating to the main hall now that he was inside the Hogwarts wards.

 

‘Shit!’ Someone yelled as Louis bumped into him, his wand still held high.

 

‘Fuck, I'm so sorry!’ Louis exclaimed, scrambling to help the stranger from the ground. 

 

A very handsome stranger. His hair was dark and short, only falling in messy fringe over his green eyes, eyes that made Louis think of his house colours. His exceptional jaw that was probably meant for cutting glass was littered with stubble and his face was just slightly tanned, like he spent his entire life outdoors. There was also a slight sense of softness underneath the sharp bones and cutting eyes that reflected that the man had to have been adorable growing up, only recently having grown into this new manly skin.

 

He was looking at Louis like the fall caught him by complete surprise and he still hadn’t quite recovered.

 

‘I am so, so sorry.’ Louis exclaimed again, holding his hand out to the stranger. ‘Mr…?’ He trailed off praying that the man gave out his name.

 

He cleared his throat and responded while taking Louis’ hand. ‘Styles. Harry Styles.’

 

‘Mr. Styles,’ Louis said softly, his mouth quirking upwards and still holding his hand. ‘I have to say if I had to bump into someone this evening, I can’t think of anyone else I would rather bump into,’ he added, his voice having a teasing edge to it.  He kissed Harry’s hand softly, causing the other man to blush slightly and bite his bottom lip, trying not to crack a smile.

 

‘Well I have to say,’ his voice as his entire physique was deep and dangerous, and sounded like a promise. Just like murmur of a sports car is a promise of a hell of a ride. ‘I’m not in the habit of giving my hand and name if the man doesn’t offer his in return,’ he teased back and Louis’ eyes lit up immediately. 

 

‘Louis Tomlinson.’ Louis smiled shaking Harry’s hand delicately, his thumb caressing the soft skin of Harry’s palm, the only touch he dared to steal.

 

‘Well, I hope to see you around then, Mr. Tomlinson.’ Harry said, taking his hand out of Louis’ hold, his eyes shining with mirth. With a lull to his step, he turned around and moved towards the Great Hall.

 

_ Turn around if you like me. Turn around if you like me.  _ Louis chanted in his head and fireworks erupted in his belly just as Harry rounded the next corner and in the last moment turned around, threw Louis a wink, and disappeared from the view.

 

Louis was left standing in the hall with a stupid expression on his face, dumbfounded smile cutting his face in half. Only the wave of noise coming from probably the freshmen who just arrived at the building snapped him out of his trance. He rubbed both hands on his face, trying to contain his reaction, and moved towards the Great Hall where Harry disappeared just a few minutes ago.    
  
Stepping inside, he had thought that the moment would be monumental - he had imagined it on the train, coming back to his Alma Mater to teach, looking at the Slytherin table, them looking back at him curious about the new Head of the House - but now? Now he was just frantically searching the podium to spot Harry somewhere. To his disappointment, he saw him sandwiched between two beautiful men. One of them was lean with buzzed short hair and godly thick eyebrows, while the other was smiling happily practically bouncing out of his chair. Upon a closer look, he realised that one of them was Liam Payne - ex quidditch star, the best Keeper English national team ever got who, due to an accident on the field, had to retire from the game way too early.   
  
Well fuck him and his luck, since the cute guy he met on the first day was also friends with the David Beckham of the wizard world. He groaned inwardly and moved to plop down on one of two seats available, the one as far away from Harry and his posse of beautiful people.    
  
‘Professor Tomlinson!’ He heard a voice behind him and turned around to see the newly appointed Headmaster Longbottom. 

 

‘Headmaster,’ Louis nodded with a wide smile. He had known headmaster Longbottom when he was still herbology Professor Longbottom. 

 

‘It’s great of you to join us. After the feast I will show you to your living quarters. Tomorrow morning, before the first period, you will have a meeting with Slytherin to introduce yourself to everyone. How does that sound?’ 

 

‘Sounds great, Headmaster Longbottom. Thank you for this opportunity.’ Louis smiled.

 

‘Neville, please.’ He shook his head. ‘We’re lucky to have you, Draco speaks so highly of you, and I learned years ago to trust Draco’s judgment.’ 

 

‘He has a way of sneaking up on you, that’s for sure.’ Louis laughed, eliciting a small giggle from Neville.    
  
‘Don’t I know it.’ Neville giggled. ‘I hope you’ll be happy here, Louis,’ he said then, turning strangely serious.

 

‘Thank you,’ he said and shook hands with the headmaster before he retired to his seat just as one of the other professors started the sorting ceremony. Louis tuned in every time he heard a loud yell of ‘Slytherin!’ coming from Sorting Hat’s mouth to take a first look at his youngest kids. He was so focused on picking out the new Slytherin faces from the crowd that he almost missed the way a pair of green eyes was boring its way into the side of his head.

 

He turned around and as soon as he caught Harry’s eyes, the man turned around like he was dead set on pretending he had never looked in the first place. Louis felt a strong urge to roll his eyes fondly at the tactic.

 

He spent the rest of the Great Feast trying to catch Harry’s eyes, the other man avoiding direct eye contact as much as possible. God, his first day was not supposed to go like this. 

 

After the feast when all of the kids were being escorted by prefects to their towers, Neville stood centre and introduced Louis again to all of the faculty. They all nodded at him and smiled widely, but when Neville went to show him his living quarters, Niall interjected with a loud ‘I got it headmaster’ and moved towards Louis with, surprisingly, Harry and the posse in tow. 

 

‘Louis, mate! I’ll show you your bedroom in a sec, just wanted to introduce you to my mates!’ He yelled jovially, but Louis wasn’t even looking at him at this point.

 

‘Mr. Styles,’ Louis nodded with sardonic smile.

 

‘Mr. Tomlinson,’ Harry nodded back, mirroring Louis’ expression.

 

‘You know each other?’ Niall asked incredulously.

 

‘We… um,’ Louis started, smiling already at his own joke. ‘We bumped into each other.’

 

‘Briefly.’ Harry quipped, earning amused looks from the other three boys. This was the thing that finally snapped Louis out of his Harry induced haze and made him realise that he was being rude.

 

‘But I would still like to meet your other two mates,’ he smiled at Niall.

 

‘Well this is Liam, he’s a coach here.’ Niall said motioning towards Liam, who shook Louis’ hand.

 

‘Well I did know that. I’m pretty sure I had your poster on the wall. Or was it David Beckham?’ Louis joked, and was pleased to notice that Harry cracked a smile.

 

‘And this is my best mate. Transmutation teacher. My best bro pal. Zayn Malik.’ Niall said with a dreamy expression and Louis connected the dots pretty quickly.

 

‘Okay his name is also Malik, so… husband?’ Louis asked, unsure.

 

‘Nah.’ Niall said, planting a long passionate kiss onto Zayn’ lips. ‘My best bro pal. This is completely platonic,’ he smirked.

 

‘What we did yesterday night on the other hand was not completely platonic.’ Zayn snickered, kissing Niall’s neck quickly. ‘Nice to meet you mate. I am indeed the husband.’

 

‘My pleasure. And I just…’ Louis said, looking at Zayn from head to toe. ‘Nicely done dude,’ he smiled at Niall, raising a hand for a high five. 

 

‘Do not objectify my bro pal best buddy.’ Niall wiggled his finger. ‘And we should go. You have an early morning tomorrow. Say goodbye, boys.’ 

 

While Liam and Zayn patted his arm, Harry just smiled and gave a small curtsy with a ‘I hope to see you soon, Mr. Tomlinson.’

 

God, Louis was screwed a hundred ways to Sunday.

 

Fortunately, Niall didn’t keep him long, too anxious to get back to Zayn before he fell asleep. So he showed Louis his apartment rather quickly and invited him for dinner the following day at their hut. Louis decided to put off any creative interior design decisions for a later date and fell into bed after making quick work of some hygiene spells. He was soon laying in bed and even though he made a quick note of changing this one first, since it was incredibly uncomfortable, he still couldn’t care less. The only thing he could think about was green eyes. And long fingers. And dimples. To those thoughts, he finally fell asleep.

 

The next day was a blur. He woke up and moved to his classroom, where his entire house was already waiting for him. He gave a little introductory speech, and then had classes back to back all day. He didn't even have time to eat something in between, which is why when he was rushing to get to his office for his office hour, he was so surprised to see Harry standing in front of his door.

 

‘Mr. Styles!’ he exclaimed. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here.’

 

‘Mr. Tomlinson,’ Harry nodded with a smile. ‘I figured you would probably have a pretty hectic day, so I thought you could maybe use a little pick me up.’ He said, a small blush darkening his cheeks while he brought his hands from behind his back and revealed a plate with a steaming pie. The strong smell of apples and cinnamon made its way to Louis’ nostrils, making his mouth water.

 

‘Wow!’ Louis said, sniffing a little and taking one unconscious step towards Harry. ‘This is so thoughtful, Mr. Styles. Thank you.’ He said softly, squeezing Harry’s forearm lightly. ‘Do you care to come in and eat with me? I’m sure I have some tea somewhere.’

 

‘I would love to.’ Harry said, his eyes shining. Louis opened the door and motioned for Harry to come in.

 

‘I’m sorry about the state of the place. I didn’t really have time to re-decorate.’ Louis said sheepishly.

 

‘It’s quite alright, Mr. Tomlinson. It’s the company that counts.’ Harry said cheekily, while Louis made a quick work of charming them some tea and some kitchen utensils to cut the pie.

 

‘Please take a seat,’ he said, pouring two cups. ‘I hope this is okay.’ He said, handing Harry a cup and cutting a slice of pie. ‘God I didn’t even realise how hungry I was.’ He laughed. 

 

‘I figured.’ Harry smiled. ‘My first day I didn’t eat anything until Niall force fed me around 8 pm.’ 

 

‘Do you teach here or?’ Louis asked, taking a bite and groaning at the taste. ‘God, this is delicious.’ 

 

‘Thank you.’ Harry smiled. ‘Nah, I’m a healer.’ 

 

‘Wow, do you just live to shame the rest of us?’ He asked and Harry made big eyes at him. 

 

‘I’m not quite sure I know what you mean.’ Harry said, a little confused.

 

‘You’re a healer.’ Louis clarified. ‘You bake,’ he added looking up at Harry. ‘You’re beautiful.’ He whispered softly, making Harry duck his head in sweet embarrassment.

 

‘Well look who’s talking, Mr. Tomlinson.’ Harry teased, voice barely above a whisper. 

 

Just then Louis realised how close they were sitting and that their hands were almost touching on the couch. He moved his pinky a bit to the left and touched Harry’s, smiling down at the connection when Harry looped his pinky around Louis’. He looked up to find Harry already smiling at him sweetly and he could feel Harry’s breath on his cheek. His other hand slowly went up to thread his fingers through Harry’s hair, but just when he was about to lean in and kiss him, there was a loud knock on the door. They both looked at each other and laughed breathily.   
  
‘I should go.’ Harry said, standing up. ‘Your students need you.’ 

 

‘I’ll see you at Maliks’ today, right?’ Louis said, catching his hand.

 

‘You will’ Harry nodded. ‘See you later, Mr. Tomlinson.’ Harry said and moved to open the door and let the student in.

 

‘See you later, Mr. Styles’ Louis answered softly.

 

He talked to the student for a few minutes. It turned out that even though he was old enough to go to Hogsmeade, his parents - both muggles - were afraid to let him. Louis promised to talk to the parents and asked the child to ask which time would be good for him to stop by. Content about handling his first teaching crisis, he closed his office and walked to his living quarters to choose his outfit for the night.

 

How he looked today was essential because Harry was going to be there, and Louis was almost thankful for the student stopping them today because he didn’t want to half-ass this. And a first kiss on a couch that the last occupant of the room left - whoever the fuck they  were - was not a romantic notion. 

 

He spent over an hour getting his hair done just right, and then he spent another rummaging through his trunk of muggle clothes and robes alike, until it was finally time to go. He took a bottle of wine he prepared and with a deep sigh, went outside. 

 

He moved through the castle which was quiet already, the curfew almost up, and then walked out and moved towards The Hut, which looked just like it had when Hagrid had lived there. He knocked on the door and, baffled, realised that the noise that carried through the house was not a knock but a soft melody imitating a doorbell. Well, okay, so maybe it wasn’t just like Hagrid was here. 

 

‘Louis!’ Niall exclaimed, delighted upon opening the door. ‘Come on in mate!’ he added and Louis looked curiously around.

 

Well yeah. Okay it really, really wasn’t like Hagrid lived here at all. They obviously had used an extension charm and even added an entire floor if the metal staircase was anything to go by. What greeted Louis was an open plan kitchen with a huge living room, decorated tastefully but still letting out a homey warm vibe that catalogue apartments were always lacking.

 

‘I love what you did with the place.’ Louis noted, impressed, and handed Niall a bottle of wine. 

 

‘Thanks, it’s all Z though.’ Niall answered with a look of proud spouse on his face. 

 

‘Nah-uh!’ Zayn exclaimed from the kitchen. ‘I do not take credit for that monstrosity you chose to hang over the fireplace.’ 

 

Louis looked over and snorted loudly at the graphic of a badger and a snake making out with each other. Tongues and all.

 

‘I thought it was the perfect metaphor. Me a Hufflepuff and you a Slytherin.’ Niall said sweetly, making eyes at his husband.

 

‘You were a Slytherin too?’ Louis asked.

 

‘Yeah, I do know who you are, you know.’ He smiled.

 

‘Does everyone remember me from Hogwarts?’ Louis asked, a bit frustrated since it was the second person that said they remembered him yet he couldn’t place any of them except for Liam. He was a quidditch star in school too - Louis had played a few games against him, but was never introduced to the guy.

 

‘Yeah.’ Harry and Liam nodded, coming down the stairs.

 

Louis moved like a magnet to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at Harry like everyone always does in the muggle romantic comedies when a boy picks his date up for prom. And just like the sucker in those movies who can’t catch their breath upon seeing how beautiful their date looks, seeing Harry took his breath away.

 

‘Mr. Styles.’ He murmured as a greeting, extending his hand to Harry as to escort him down the stairs.

 

‘Mr. Tomlinson.’ Harry responded eagerly taking his hand as Louis brought it to his lips and kissed it softly, making Harry laugh breathily, enjoying their silly rituals. 

 

‘You look….’ Louis trailed off trying to find the words. ‘Just. Wow.’ He finished finally. 

 

‘Not so bad yourself.’ Harry allowed and with a pleased smile, looked Louis up and down.

 

They were so wrapped up in reenacting Pride and Prejudice that they missed the way the other three were rolling their eyes with fond smiles.

 

Louis brought Harry to the table where Liam was already sitting and pulled up a chair for him, eagerly taking the place next to the curly-haired man with Niall on the other side. 

 

‘Someone would have thought that you could at least remember Harry from Hogwarts.’ Zayn murmured amused.

 

‘Please. I was three years below him.’ Harry rolled his eyes. ‘I wouldn't remember some random fourth year when I was finishing up.’ 

 

‘That is literally the last word I would ever use to describe you.’ Louis said, looking up to Harry. ‘And as much as I don’t like it, I have to admit that my Hogwarts self couldn’t tell my head from my ass so I’m not that surprised I couldn’t see someone special in the sea of mediocrity.’ He added softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

 

‘Did he just call all of us a sea of mediocrity?’ Niall asked jovially, not really targeting his question at Louis.

 

‘I think so yeah.’ Liam answered, laughter evident in his voice.

 

‘I do recognise Liam, though.’ Louis interjected, looking away from Harry’s eyes. ‘All of  Gryffindor was kissing your arse since you were the only reason they ever won a game.’ Louis smiled devilishly.

 

‘And I remember you were the only reason we ever lost one. It didn’t matter that no one could score against me when you could catch the snitch before we even had time to score 150 points.’ Liam acknowledged with a small nod, making Louis preen like a peacock, happy that Harry witnessed that particular praise.

 

‘Slytherin’s golden boy.’ Zayn snickered. ‘God we hated all of you so much,’ he added with a smile.

 

‘All of us?’ Louis asked.

 

‘Your gang. You, Grimshaw, Edwards, Pinnock, Thirlwall, and Nelson.’ Harry clarified. ‘Weren’t you dating Grimshaw for few years back then?’ He asked innocently.

 

‘Yes and Jesy was with Leigh and Perrie with Jade, right?’ Niall added.

 

‘How the hell did you even know that?’ Louis asked incredulously. ‘Half of us were deep in the closet back in Hogwarts!’ He added, genuinely surprised.

 

‘You weren’t that sleek.’ Harry snorted.

 

‘And you might not have been running around telling everyone that you were together but you were definitely acting like it.’ Niall added.

 

‘Shit, I didn’t know we were that obvious.’ Louis said, puzzled.

 

‘Or everyone was just watching closely.’ Zayn noted offhandedly. ‘So did any of that survive after Hogwarts?’

 

‘Perrie and Jade got married a few months ago.’ Louis nodded. ‘Me and Grimmy split at the end of seventh year - we still talk, just knew it was coming either way and decided to end it on a good note at least.’ He smiled, feeling Harry letting out a whoosh of breath beside him. ‘Jesy and Leigh hung on for a few months but with Leigh teaching at Beauxbatons and Jesy working at Madame Malkin’ it was too hard so they called it quits after a few months too.’ 

 

‘See baby? We're one of the awesome ones who made it past Hogwarts.’ Niall grinned at Zayn, who started to move around to put food on the table.

 

‘Or you are one of the lame ones who only had sex with each other.’ Harry noted under his breath, prompting the other boys to laugh.

 

‘You started to date in Hogwarts?’ Louis asked politely, digging into the food Zayn just placed in front of him.

 

‘Yeah,’ Niall nodded with a wistful smile his eyes wandering around after his husband like he couldn't quite take his eyes off of him.

 

‘How did you meet?’ Louis inquired further around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

 

‘They assigned Zayn as my tutor when I came here at year three and was too traumatized to do magic.’ Niall said evenly, Zayn squeezing his arm briefly on his way back to his chair. ‘He unlocked me. I did my first lucid spell under his instructions.’ He added and Louis’ stopped mid-movement, his mouth open comically. 

 

‘That’s when I knew we would always be together. I didn’t recognise it as a romantic attraction or even sexual one at that point, but that’s how I knew he was my soulmate.’ Niall said softly, this time it being Zayn’s turn to watch him with heart eyes, and kiss him quickly on the arm.

 

‘That’s really beautiful.’ Louis noted, choked up a bit.

 

‘That’s us.’ Niall sing-songed replacing his serious tone with something more playful. ‘The greatest love story of all time, aren’t we babes?’ He teased making Zayn look down at him with a fond shake of his head.

 

‘God you're conceited.Liam rolled his eyes.

 

‘Look who’s talking, Mr. Hot-Shot-Quidditch-Star.’ Niall shot back.

 

“I’m not a quidditch star anymore,’ Liam said shrugging. ‘But I was meaning to ask you-” he said turning to Louis. ‘Maybe you would fancy coming to coach with me sometime next week? You were a really freaking good seeker. I have some kids that could use your perspective even though you didn't go pro.’

 

‘Yeah, I’d love to!’ Louis exclaimed genuinely excited. ‘I haven't played quidditch properly since Hogwarts.’ 

 

‘Why didn't you go pro?’ Zayn inquired.

 

‘I wanted to teach.’ Louis shrugged. ‘In retrospect, that may have been the wrong call.’ He chuckled. 

 

‘Don’t get cute with me, Mr. Tomlinson.’ Harry smiled, wiggling his fingers playfully. ‘I saw you with your students. You love it.’ 

 

‘Yeah. I do.’ Louis allowed. ‘But it took me seven years to even get this job. And before that I was lucky if I found something even remotely close to teaching.’

 

‘What did you do before?’ Niall asked.

 

‘A lot.’ Louis laughed. ‘I taught some homeschooled wizards for a few months, worked in a bar once.’ He added.

 

‘That must be a great experience to have when you're a teacher.’ Niall teased.

 

‘You laugh but drunk people tend to act like kids.’ He laughed.

 

They had dinner and drank some wine, but ultimately didn’t stay long since Liam and Louis had an early morning the next day. Niall made Louis promise to join them for another dinner in a few days and didn’t let him leave until he was drowning in Tupperware filled with food.

 

The next morning, Louis woke up bright and early with newfound excitement, changed into some sweats and took out his broom from the back of his trunk where it was collecting cobwebs. With a skip to his step, he moved to the quidditch pitch seeing Liam and a few kids already mingling around.

 

‘Good morning!’ He exclaimed happily when he came closer.

 

‘Hi Louis!’ Liam smiled. ‘We’re still waiting for some kids, but there’s someone I want you to meet.’ Liam added, giving Louis a quick one-armed hug.

 

‘Mac!’ He yelled then towards the group of kids and a girl spun her head around so quickly that Louis swore her braids made a swishing sound.

 

‘Yes coach?’ She asked, walking to them quickly but not like she was in a rush.

 

‘This is Professor Tomlinson, the new potion master and a great seeker from what I remember. Thought he could watch you train and give you some pointers.’ 

 

‘Nice to meet you Professor Tomlinson.’ She said and Liam shooed her away as the rest of the kids came over and it was time to start practise.

 

He started with a warm up during which he walked around the field with Louis. It was weird seeing it from that perspective. Louis was used to watching the field from much higher up.

 

‘Mac is a great seeker and I can’t help her anymore. She outgrew me already.’ Liam beamed proudly. ‘I know the game, but I never played as Seeker. Was shit at it. And she has scouts coming to see her play and I need her to be at her best.’ Liam explained to Louis while they were both watching the kids train.

 

‘I think you are overestimating me. I mean I was good, but it’s not like I’m a pro.’ Louis said, rubbing the back of his head.

 

‘Lou, please.’ Liam snorted, Louis smiling at the use of the nickname. ‘You had scouts looking at you, I remember. They offered you a place, you just turned it down.’ 

 

‘I mean, I can look!’ Louis said, raising his hand. ‘I'll do my best to help, I just don’t know how useful I’ll be.’

 

‘Don’t play coy with me, Tomlinson.’ Liam wiggled his finger. ‘Give it your best shot, yeah?’

 

He then moved and arranged kids in two teams, so Louis could see Mac in action. He and Liam sat on the stands to watch the game with brooms ready. 

 

‘Do you miss it?’ Louis asked after a few minutes of silence, never taking his eyes off of Mac.

 

‘Every day.’ Liam nodded, mindlessly rubbing his injured leg. ‘But this is the next best thing.’ 

 

‘I think I would be blindly jealous of them.’ Louis said shaking his head. ‘You are a much better person it seems.’ 

 

‘I’m jealous sometimes.’ Liam said quietly. ‘But … there is nothing I can do. I tried muggle methods and magic and this damn leg still won’t go back to the way it was. It still is not well enough to withstand excessive training and sometimes days on the broom when the match is particularly difficult. So I will never have it again, and I had to find a way to make myself be okay with that or I would never stop being angry.’ 

 

‘I’m sorry.’ Louis said, squeezing Liam’s leg shortly, taking his eyes for a second off of the field.

 

‘It’s fine.’ Liam smiled. ‘I mean it’s not fine, but it is what it is.’ He shrugged. 

 

‘See, that’s what I’m talking about - do you see it?’ Liam pointed out towards Mackenzie, changing the topic effectively.

 

‘Yeah, she’s way too focused on whatever is happening on the field.’ Louis nodded, going along with a topic change easily. 

 

They spent the rest of training talking quidditch and bouncing ideas off of each other on how the players could improve. Louis had fun. He barely even noticed when two hours had passed, the kids starting to leave to get to classes. Only Mac staying behind, waiting for feedback.

 

‘You're great. You definitely have a shot in going pro, if I could suggest something though,’ Louis said. ‘You need to trust your team. I know that this is not it but even at the training sessions you need to trust the people that you play to shield you from bludgers. Your time is impressive but you could cut it in half if you spent your time looking for the snitch rather than bludgers.’ 

 

He talked to Mac a little bit more and promised her to come back for another training session soon. 

 

From then on, Louis joining Liam in the morning was a pretty standard routine. They would walk around the field, talk mostly quidditch tactics, but Louis found himself getting attached to Liam, growing more impressed with him everyday. 

 

Everyone in school knew Liam, the sixth year Gryffindor who got on the team when he was only a first year - the only instance that happened before was Harry Potter - and was a nightmare to play against because in his career in Hogwarts he never let the ball fly past him. He was a living legend, so no one was really surprised that he got scouted and called to play in England National Team landing UK win in World Championships. He was getting ready for the next season when a terrible fall from the broom broke his leg, his knee sustaining the worst injury which after months and months of magic and muggle treatment alike was deemed unfixable.

 

Sports fans everywhere were heartbroken and Liam disappeared for over a year. No one knew where he was, only to reappear by accepting a job as coach at Hogwarts. He had just been supposed to teach kids how to fly and act as referee for quidditch games, but he started coaching kids who actually wanted to pursue quidditch professionally after graduation. 

 

Liam told him all of that during their training sessions over the first month of the school year. Louis shared a lot of his life in return and sometimes he felt weird about how quickly they bonded, felt anxious that maybe he was oversharing, but then again Liam wasn’t the only one.

 

The first weekend after that first dinner, Louis was getting ready to go to bed, not even in the mood to apparate himself to a pub and pick someone up, his thoughts way too occupied with one particular person. He couldn't even be assed to pretend like he wasn't head over heels for Harry, so he decided that he was going to go to sleep like the pathetic excuse of a man he was and he would have no fun whatsoever until he found his manhood wherever he lost it and asked Harry on a date. 

 

His plans though were interrupted by a knock on his door and a loud ‘Lou open up, yer cunt!’ He snorted loudly, recognising the slight drunk lull to Niall’s tone and jumped out of bed to invite him in.

 

‘Nah nah nah!’ Niall shook his head widely. ‘We are not staying in. We’re going out to drink, come on!’ Niall urged, tugging onto Louis’ sleeve, trying to get him out of the apartment nevermind the fact that Louis was still in his pyjamas.

 

‘Mate I have to at least get dressed first.’ Louis chuckled, unclutching Niall’s hand from his arm.

 

‘Fine!’ Niall huffed like it was such a hardship. 

 

‘Where’s the old ball and chain?’ Louis smirked.

 

‘My dearest husband is at some convention.’ Niall answered, stuttering around the word convention. 

 

‘Is... um, anyone else going with us?’ Louis asked innocently, prompting Niall to laugh loudly and nearly fall off the couch

 

‘Man, you're so obvious.’ He giggled. ‘No  _ Mr. Tomlinson,’  _ he teased, imitating Harry’s deep and slow voice. ‘ _ Mr. Styles  _ is not coming,’ he said and stopped for a second before catching an innuendo. ‘Yet!’ He exclaimed right after and rolled on the couch, pleased by his own joke.

 

‘First: fuck off.’ Louis shot back. ‘Second: not what I was asking.’ Louis defended, but it sounded weak even to his own ears.

 

‘Oh that’s definitely what you were asking.’ Niall said confidently. ‘Everyone and their momma can see that you’ve got hots for Hazza.’ 

 

‘Shut up.’ Louis mumbled, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt.

 

‘Hey,’ Niall said softly. ‘I'm just teasing you, love.’ He smiled, standing right in front of Louis and tugging his hands down gently and buttoning his shirt himself. ‘I’m not doing it in front of him okay? I won’t be sabotaging this, don’t worry.’ 

 

‘There’s nothing to sabotage.’ Louis sighed. ‘I’m too much of a chicken to ask him out.’ He pouted, making Niall laugh.

 

‘Come on, let’s get some liquor courage in you.’ He added and tugged Louis out of the room. 

 

‘He’s just so pretty Niall. Did you see how pretty he is?’ Louis whined some hours later after they apparated to London and were sitting in O'Neill's - a muggle bar in Soho with drinks in hand, ignoring the loud, but undoubtedly good, music soaring in their ears. 

 

‘He looks like a frog sometimes.’ Niall hiccuped.

 

‘Yeah! A frog you want to make out with, maybe!’ Louis exclaimed, raising up in his seat in drunk persistence before popping back down. ‘That's gross. I wouldn’t want to make out with a frog.’ He amended.

 

‘You would want to make out with Harry though.’ Niall stated.

 

‘Yeah,’ Louis answered dreamily, leaning his head on his hand.

 

They had been drinking for some time now and Louis was pretty much hammered. But then again, Niall was in no better state. They were already at the state when they started to hug each other randomly, to proclaim love and respect for one another, and call each other brothers. 

 

After a few hours, the crowd in O’Neill' s was way too drunk and way too loud for their liking so they downed the last drinks and with another bottle moved towards the river, passing people in the various states of intoxication. Usually at this hour it was time to ‘pass out in the middle of the sidewalk’. 

 

Near Embankment they turned left and walked by the river towards the London Bridge, the city starting to quiet down a bit.

 

‘Do you do this often?’ Louis asked.

 

‘Sometimes.’ Niall allowed, his voice a bit more sober after the walk. He took a sip of whiskey to remedy that. ‘Usually go with Harry. But he was busy today, and Zayn wasn’t home, hence me bugging you.’ Niall grinned.

 

‘You're not bugging me.’ Louis rolled his eyes and shoved Niall playfully. ‘You do this with Zayn though? Apparate to O’Neill’s and get royally pissed?’ He smiled, somehow pleased at the perspective of husbands getting rowdy together.

 

‘Yeah. I mean, from time to time yeah, but it’s not about that. I just don’t sleep that good without him in the house.’ He said seriously and looked away like it was the liquor talking too much about subjects Niall didn't want to bring up.

 

‘Well…’ Louis sighed, deciding not to push the subject. ‘That’s a whole new level of codependency.’ He teased, seeing Niall let out a breath at the change of subject.

 

‘Fuck off. It’s my hot husband, I can be as codependent as I fucking please.’ Niall stated.

 

‘He is hot.’ Louis said, pretending to get all dreamy about it and earning a smack to the head from Niall. ‘Hey!’ He protested. ‘He’s hot, that’s hardly my fault!’ He defended himself. ‘He’s not my top three though, if that helps.’ He added when he saw Niall’s murderous expression.

 

‘Oddly enough it does.’ Niall mused. ‘Speaking of Harry…’ He trailed off.

 

‘We weren't even speaking of Harry.’ Louis noted defensively.

 

‘Right.’ Niall noted sarcastically. ‘Just wanted to insert the topic into the conversation smoothly.’ Niall winked.

 

‘That would be a fail.’ Louis mumbled under his breath.

 

‘Speaking of Harry,’ Niall pushed on. ‘When are you asking him out?’ Niall demanded.

 

‘Malik, give me a break.’ Louis dodged the question.

 

‘No seriously, I don’t get it. He is literally smitten with you almost as much as you are smitten with him so what is the issue? We need some new romance here, I’m tired of being the only couple with Zayn. We need a double date ASAP.’

 

And as much as Louis was trying to dodge the question, Niall would not have it. In fact, it became a widely discussed topic between all four of them that only ended when Harry entered the room. What was the most frustrating for the guys was the fact that Louis never really gave them a straight answer as to why he wasn’t making a move already. Or rather why he was comfortable with moving at a turtle’s pace. Niall was always whining about how if he heard anything more about one more bloody walk, he would lose it.

 

Louis liked taking Harry for walks. Sometimes at sunset, and he liked to walk him back to his door only to kiss him on the cheek at his threshold and walk back to his apartment with head in the clouds.

 

He just… he liked it. The way things were. He knew it couldn’t go on like this forever, but sue him, he liked it. He liked these first moments where you think you're in love with them but haven’t told them yet, and when you think they may love you back but they haven’t even agreed on a date yet. He liked tiptoeing around each other and small touches that were always so significant because they were their firsts. He loved that his usual hello included tackling Niall to the ground and then kissing Harry’s hand. And he liked that Harry always blushed at that. 

 

But September turned into October and then November and more often than not it was too cold to walk outside, so Louis made point of bringing Harry hot chocolate when he was off work and walked with him a bit inside the castle.

 

‘How was your day, Mr. Styles?’ He asked one of those afternoons when he saw Harry, still using the official address which became their nickname weeks ago.

 

‘Tired.’ Harry smiled, gratefully accepting a cup Louis offered him. ‘A lot of quidditch injuries. The most important match of the season is approaching and kids are training like crazy. I should probably have a talk with Liam about it.’ He added, wrapping his mitten-clothed hand around the cup.

 

‘I'm sure he had a talk with them about safety on the field.’ Louis assured him.

 

‘I know, but they are kids, it can’t hurt to repeat.’ Harry sighed, running a hand over his face.

 

‘Do you wish me to just escort you to your chambers? If you're too tired we can…’ Louis started, looking worryingly to Harry.

 

‘Nah.’ Harry shook his head fondly. ‘Take me somewhere,’ he whispered breathlessly.

 

‘Huh?’ Louis asked with a dumbfounded expression, caught by surprise by how beautiful Harry looked.

 

‘Just take me somewhere, Mr. Tomlinson. Take my mind off of things.’ Harry murmured softly.

 

‘Yeah. Um… yeah, okay.’ Louis nodded, realising Harry could reduce him to a babbling idiot in a matter of seconds, but didn’t have it in him to care. 

 

He led Harry to the end of Hogwart’s grounds where they could apparate. Harry was walking beside him with a spring to his step and a teasing smile on his lips, that made Louis realise that he had to regain some control over the situation. Harry was pushing his buttons and he loved it. He knew how he affected Louis and he used that shamelessly, so Louis really needed to do something to make him lose his breath for a change. 

 

‘May I?’ He asked, when a crazy idea popped into his head as he extended his hand towards Harry just as they passed Hogwart’s gates.

 

‘Of course, Mr.Tomlinson.’ Harry added, smirk firmly in place and Louis couldn’t wait to wipe it off. 

 

He took a hold on Harry’s hand and placed it firmly on his arm just as he took out his wand and started to apparate, Harry in tow. 

 

In a second, the London skyline stretched in front of them and Harry gasped softly.

 

‘What?’ He breathed and looked around as it was Louis’ turn to act coy.

 

‘The London Eye? Really?’ Harry asked, smiling and shaking his head disbelievingly.

 

‘The very top.’ Louis nodded.

 

‘I wasn’t expecting that.’ Harry allowed with a small smile.

 

Everything was quiet around them, London Eye closed already, the capsule unmoving underneath them. Harry moved to sit on the bench and looked toward Big Ben thoughtfully.

 

‘What were you expecting then?’ Louis asked, sitting beside him.

 

‘A party maybe.’ Harry mused.

 

‘You spend way too much time hanging out with Niall.’ Louis rolled his eyes.

 

‘This is better though. The last time I was here, I was just a kid. Some school trip.’ Harry smiled.

 

‘School trip?’ Louis asked confused. Hogwarts definitely didn’t do field trips to the London Eye.

 

‘I’m a muggle born.’ Harry smiled. ‘Went to proper school before all of this craziness happened.’ 

 

‘Me too!’ Louis exclaimed, maybe a little bit too eagerly, gasping at everything he and Harry had in common.

 

‘I thought you were half blood?’

 

‘Well… um technically yes. My biological father is a wizard. But I never met him, was raised by two muggles. My mom remarried when I was little.’ He shrugged.

 

‘I’m sorry, Mr. Tomlinson.’ Harry said, softly squeezing his hand a little but with so much feeling behind it that it took Louis’ breath away.

 

‘Don’t be.’ He whispered back. ‘I have a wonderful dad. The other one doesn’t bother me at all.’ He said mostly according to the truth.

 

‘I won’t be then.’ Harry promised, his shoulder bumping into Louis’. ‘You know…’ Harry trailed off with a small smile after a while. ‘We should probably watch out for Silver Surfer.’ 

 

Louis laughed loudly, taken aback by Harry’s surprising change of topic.

 

‘But wouldn't it be pointless to attack the London Eye if no one’s on it?’ Louis asked after he collected himself.

 

‘We're on it.’ Harry noted.

 

‘And we don’t need the fantastic four to protect us. We have our wands.’ 

 

‘Chris Evans is hot, though.’ Harry mused, earning another chuckle from Louis.

 

‘He is.’ Louis nodded. ‘Is it just me or is he always left with playing vaguely homosexual roles?’ 

 

‘You mean you ship Captain America and Bucky.’ Harry deadpanned.

 

‘And you don’t?’ Louis asked rhetorically.

 

‘Fair point.’ Harry laughed.

 

Their laughter died down a bit as the sun started to set, both turning towards it, happy to just sit in quiet enjoying each other’s company.

 

‘Magic is wonderful isn’t it?’ Harry asked after a few minutes, the shadows playing on his face making his eyes even greener if that was even a possibility.

 

‘How come?’

 

‘Literally like half an hour before we were walking through Hogwarts and now we are on top of the London Eye. In a second we could be in Paris or Australia. It never quite stopped amazing me. How wonderful magic is.’ Harry said.

 

‘I know what you mean. Sometimes I still feel like that 11 year old kid who got a letter and everything changed.’ Louis shook his head, remembering the feeling.

 

‘You never quite get used to what you can do, right?’ Harry mused.

 

‘No.’ Louis agreed. ‘So? Shall we go to the Louvre next? Or the Sydney Opera House?’ He grinned.

 

‘I wish.’ Harry whined. ‘But it’s a school night, Mr. Tomlinson.’ He scolded gently. ‘We should both get some sleep’ 

 

‘However you wish.’ Louis whispered, bringing Harry's hand to his face and kissing it softly, making the other man blush as always. ‘May I escort you to your chambers Mr. Styles?’ 

 

‘Yes, please.’ Harry nodded, looping his hand around Louis’ arm once again, leaving it there once they apparated and moved through the Hogwart’s gate.

 

The evening was cold but Harry’s hand was burning on Louis’ arm and his breath was warm at the side of Louis face where he leaned in to be heard over the wind.

 

He was talking about how he couldn’t wait to go home for Christmas.

 

‘Don’t get me wrong I see them plenty, but Gems is working in the Daily Prophet always on some assignment so it’ll be nice to just sit at home.’ He explained with a conspiratorial smile, like Louis was supposed to know what he meant. And he did. He really did. He loved his family, but Christmas meant hiding his wand because his younger siblings were too young to be able to understand why they couldn’t talk about magic, so Louis couldn’t tell them yet.

 

‘Um. Yeah. It’ll be...’ He started, trying to sound convincing.

 

‘Mr. Tomlinson?’ Harry asked hesitantly. They were rounding on Harry’s door already.

 

‘Christmas will be wonderful.’ He grinned, hoping that he didn’t look as maniacal as he felt. ‘I… um. I have to go. But it was wonderful to see you as always, Mr. Styles.’ He said and ran away from a dumbfounded looking Harry, who for the life of him couldn't figure out what had just happened.

 

He didn’t even know why he overreacted like that. It wasn’t news that his family life was a bit complicated, but hearing Harry talk about his family like that, when they supported him to the point of his muggle sister getting a job as a muggle correspondent to the Daily Prophet, it still stung a little that he was almost thirty now and didn’t have any place he could belong.

 

On the other hand he always felt so guilty when he had those thoughts. His mom was lovely, she loved him so much and he loved her back. She was just doing what she thought was the best for all of them, but that required Louis to hide his magic from his little siblings even if he knew that was the best option still. He wanted at least an acknowledgement that they knew how hard it was. To have two separate lives that he couldn’t even mix together. He was bound to be a stranger in one of them.

 

He found himself knocking on Niall’s door, not really knowing what he was doing there in the first place. Maybe he wanted to drink. Or to spill his guts.

 

‘Hi Lou,’ Zayn greeted him upon opening the door with no surprise shown on his face. Louis found himself irritated about how nothing fazed that motherfucker. He was halfway ready to just hide in his closet and jump at him in the middle of the night to get some kind of rapid emotion out of him.

 

‘Is Niall here?’ Louis asked.

 

‘He’s having dinner with his dads.’ Zayn said, assessing Louis quietly. ‘Come on in,’ He added not leaving Louis any room for arguing so he just sighed and went in, that damn painting of a badger and snake making out greeting him when he was on his way to throw himself on the living room couch in a dramatic gesture. 

 

‘So what happened?’ Zayn asked accioing the teapot and switching it for scotch upon seeing Louis’ unamused expression.

 

‘Nothing, I just got a weird mood.’ Louis shrugged, taking a sip.

 

‘So it’s about Harry then?’ Zayn asked evenly, his mouth hovering millimeters above the brim of the glass, never actually taking a sip.

 

‘No.’ Louis denied immediately. ‘Maybe a little,’ he amended after a beat.

 

‘How come?’ Zayn pressed on.

 

‘It’s just…’ Louis started and drank another shot. ‘It’s nothing really. Can we just drink in silence?’ He added pleadingly.

 

‘How about I’ll speak, hmm?’ Zayn asked and without even a beat of silence to hear Louis’ response, he jumped into a rant which made Louis think he didn’t actually have any say in the matter. ‘I saw you and Harry coming back. I was going home after grading some papers in my office. You went by me and didn’t even notice I was there.’ He smiled. ‘And I yelled your names!’ He exclaimed fondly. ‘You were completely enthralled with one another. That was 15 minutes ago. What could possibly happen between then and now that has you shaking?’

 

‘Nothing happened, per se.’ Louis relented. ‘He was just talking about his family and it brought up some things about mine that I don’t really want to discuss.’ He added, though trying to shut down the topic without even knowing whether that was a default impulse on his part or an actual desire to do so.

 

‘You're just trying to make it all proper like.’ Zayn said with furrowed eyebrows, contemplating his words. ‘You won’t say that your family bothers you because it’s not what a perfect son would do, you won’t ask Harry on a date because you just met him and you think you should wait. And you won’t talk to me about it because we barely know each other and I shouldn't get you the way I do.’ He said, ending his speech with a smirk like he knew what went on inside Louis’ head perfectly. ‘But I do, though.’ He added softly. ‘We met three months ago and I know you. You met Niall three months ago and he was your best friend after one week. You met Liam three months ago and you wanted to wrap him up in blankets and protect him from the world within hours. And you met Harry three months ago and you fell in love with him from the first sight. And that scares you. Because you have tons of people in your life that have been there for years now, some all your life and it never quite felt like this.’ 

 

Louis gulped around the drink, Zayn’s voice feeling like it was coming from inside his head not from the chair beside him.

 

‘Maybe you're right.’ He added a little resigned, a small self-deprecating smile gracing his lips.

 

‘We love you, Lou. We have all been friends for a long time, but not like this. Not like with you. And now there are five of us. Just because it happened fast doesn't mean it’s not real.’ Zayn reasoned, sneaking himself on the couch next to Louis and placing a hand on his knee.

 

‘You are a very smart lad, you know that?’ Louis smiled, still trying to defuse the tension with jokes.

 

‘I know.’ Zayn nodded seriously.

 

‘God, now you just sound like Niall, shut up.’ Louis groaned.

 

‘I am married to the man, I’m allowed.’ Zayn defended with a chuckle, messing up Louis’ hair. 

 

The sat like that for a while, Zayn letting Louis cook in everything he just said before Louis broke the silence.

 

‘So how long did you wait to ask Niall out then?’

 

‘You mean not counting the years I was pretending I wasn’t in love with him?’ 

 

‘So you were a knobhead too?’ Louis sighed.

 

‘Yeah. But a little longer than you.’ Zayn laughed.

 

‘Oh don’t underestimate me! I didn’t ask him out yet.’ Louis noted sarcastically. ‘And I kind of ran away from him today. I should probably apologise first.’ 

 

‘How about you just cool it for a sec?’ Zayn asked. ‘You’re just so wired all the time. You're like that hamster running around your wheel but there’s nowhere to go man. Just enjoy the ride.’ He added and Louis looked at him closely.

 

‘Yeah, you are officially cut off.’ He noted, taking the glass away from Zayn. ‘A hamster? Really, weirdo?’ He asked amused.

 

‘I thought it was fitting.’ Zayn smiling dopily, touching Louis cheek ‘You're also small and fluffy.’ He grinned making Louis red in outrage.

 

‘Well you clearly don’t know me at all.’ Louis growled. ‘You don’t even remember what I look like!’ 

 

Zayn laughed jovially and took the glass back from Louis, topping Louis’ one also to the brim with scotch. Louis didn't protest, instead Niall found them some hours later sleeping on the couch cuddled together and he huddled Louis out of the door. By some miracle, or you know… magic, he made it home alive and fell face first into bed. 

 

Waking up the next day was a son of a bitch. He had a massive hangover, he felt like a jackass because he was acting weird in front of Harry, and to top it all off he had everything Zayn said to think about. 

 

The only thing keeping him alive when he was sitting in his first class that day, looking blankly towards his students that were laughing and talking and throwing balled up parchment at each other, was the fact that it was Friday and he would be able to bury himself in blankets soon for at least 48 hours straight. 

 

‘Okay guys.’ He said, raising his voice a little and wincing at the volume. ‘We're gonna have a nice quiet class today.’ He added, massaging his head. ‘Everyone take out a parchment and write me two thousand words on everyday use of elixirs.’ 

 

‘Like…’ He heard one of the kids he knew from quidditch practises say. ‘For hangover, for example?’ He finished innocently, making the entire class giggle.

 

‘You laugh now. Let’s see how you like it when you’re my age and can’t handle your liquor like you used to.’ Louis growled with a fond smile.

 

‘You’ll always be twenty to us, Professor Tomlinson!’ Some other girl exclaimed and Louis smiled gratefully.

 

‘I’m so happy, I demand respect from my students.’ He teased. ‘But really get to work and please respect that I’m an old man and need my silence?’ 

 

He was met with few barks of laughter here and there but other than that they got quiet and got to work. He loved his kids sometimes.

 

All of his other classes went by in the same manner and when it was lunch break, he couldn't hold it off any longer. He took a deep breath, drank some coffee, and sprayed his face with cold water before moving to the hospital wing. 

 

Harry was busy sitting beside some first year that had her hand wrapped up in a bandage with some needles sticking out of it and a very unhappy face. Harry was caressing her head and he must have asked her a question because Louis could see her speak with a pout firmly in place. But then Harry took out his wand and suddenly her cast turned pink and sparkly with little rainbows all over it and a girl gasped loudly putting her other hand over her mouth before looking up at Harry with bright smile. 

 

Louis found himself just standing there looking at Harry with frankly stupid face expression, trying to bite around the fond smile fighting its way to his lips but he couldn’t contain it. And that’s how Harry caught his eye, his whole face perking up and brightening with a wide smile, dimples in full force as he kissed the girl’s head, murmured something to her, and moved towards Louis.

 

‘Hello, Mr. Tomlinson.’ He smiled easily, like Louis hadn’t acted like a complete weirdo the day before.

 

‘Mr. Styles, you look as beautiful as ever.’ Louis answered, fighting the urge to reach out and touch. ‘Can we talk?’ 

 

‘Of course. Come to my office.’ Harry agreed and led Louis away from the noisy hall. He closed the door after both of them and swayed on his feet with his hands clasped behind his back like he sometimes did, which Louis always found adorable.

 

‘I wanted to apologise for yesterday, mainly for my abrupt exit. It was rude and I… I didn’t want to upset you.’ He said sheepishly, playing with his fingers.

 

‘I wasn’t upset.’ Harry denied, shaking his head. ‘I was a bit worried. You got so nervous. I don’t understand... Did I say something wrong?’ Harry asked, his eyes wide open and genuine.

 

‘No, no!’ Louis rushed to exclaim, hating himself that he made Harry blame himself even for a second. ‘It’s um… I don’t know your kind of family. Mine is a bit… different.’ 

 

‘Different isn’t always bad.’ Harry said tentatively, making Louis smile.

 

‘You always look for a silver lining and I lo… admire that about you so much” Louis finished quickly, feeling himself blushing about what he just said/ ‘It’s nothing traumatic. I swear. That’s why I feel stupid even talking about it,’ he chuckled.

 

‘It’s okay.’ Harry soothed. ‘It’s not stupid.’ He argued. ‘I still… I still wish to know. Even if you think it’s stupid. I… I want to be the person that you share stupid stuff with. And serious stuff.’ He said softly.

 

‘I’d like that.’ Louis nodded, deciding to take some of Zayn’s advice and just go with the feeling if it felt good.

 

‘I hope I'm not overstepping here but… if you don’t want to go visit your family for Christmas, you could come with me maybe?’ Harry asked, shuffling his feet nervously.

 

‘Are you asking me to meet your parents, Mr. Styles?’ Louis couldn’t help but tease.

 

‘Don’t be so full of yourself, Mr. Tomlinson.’ Harry rolled his eyes. ‘I just thought it would be nice.’ He pouted.

 

‘It would. Thank you.’ Louis said seriously, squeezing Harry’s hand. ‘I would love to take you up on your offer but I want to see my family. They are not perfect, and I’m not perfect, but maybe there’s room for improvement.’ He smiled lopsidedly.

 

‘Good luck then,’ Harry nodded.

 

Louis moved to the door, promising Harry to see him as always after his shift. He stopped for a second at the door, hesitating about asking him out. Harry seemed to be waiting for something, looking anxiously over to Louis, but he just smiled and walked away.  _ Not yet _ . 

 

All five of them met shortly before Christmas break, had a nice dinner, and exchanged gifts. Zayn kept shooting Louis this look like he wanted to say ‘Just get on with it’, but Louis kept shaking his head in a silent no.

 

Not yet.

 

He walked Harry back to his chambers where he would take the floo line directly to his house. He kissed him on the cheek this time and promised to see each other at New Year’s Eve. 

 

He walked back to his apartment, packed his stuff, and walked through the castle until he was outside of Hogwart’s grounds and could apparate safely. In seconds, his childhood home appeared in front of his eyes, a thick coat of snow covering everything in sight. Some fairy lights were strung on trees and on windows, not very symmetric - definitely the job of Louis’ youngest siblings, Doris and Ernest. He smiled at the sight. 

 

He crouched down and transmuted his trunk into a fancy, modern suitcase. He was already wearing casual muggle clothes and then he hid his wand. He took a deep breath and walked inside the house, getting swallowed with noise and warmth and the smell of cinnamon. 

 

As soon as he shut the door after himself, there were two bundles coming at him with full force and he let go of his trunk to catch them both in his arms.

 

‘Lou!’ Doris yelled, smooching her face against Louis’ while Ernest was slobbering all over his other side, making Louis giggle.

 

‘Hello, little monsters.’ He kissed both of them back, squeezing them to his chest tightly.

 

‘Louis!’ His mom yelled, stepping inside the hall after her youngest children, her red hair tied in a bun on the top of her head, her cheeks covered in flour. 

 

‘Hi mom.’ He smiled at her when she leaned over to kiss his cheek between two redheads. 

 

‘Your room is ready, come on! Leave your stuff and come downstairs!’ She urged, taking both kids out of his arms one by one and shooing him away. 

 

He went inside his childhood bedroom. He had only got to live 11 years in it. It was full with posters of footballers. He snorted at how many of them were shirtless and hot. He may have not known he was gay back then, but from this perspective it was pretty obvious. 

 

He put his suitcase on the bed and in a last minute act of defiance, he put his wand into his pocket, barely anything of it sticking out, some lame attempt to merge his two worlds together. 

 

He went downstairs and his mom looked pointedly at his pocket but didn’t say a word. He expected to hear about it later when the kids would be in bed and he’d be opening the bottle of wine with her, talking around the specifics of his job but never quite using the word. 

 

They baked cookies, and the twins were decorating them but halfway through the job they fell asleep. His mom just smiled fondly, scrunched her nose littered with freckles and took one baby closer to her up, signaling Louis to pick up the other one. They put them to bed and moved downstairs. It was silent when they sat down and his mom poured down two glasses of wine. He was screwed. Lottie and Fizzy weren’t there yet, so he was left as the target of all their mom’s noisy questions by himself. 

 

‘So how is this new job treating you?’ She asked, letting her hair down and massaging her skull. 

 

‘It’s great mom.’ He nodded. ‘Kids are amazing, they are picking up things so fast.’

 

‘Just like you then. You were always such a clever little boy.’ She smiled tiredly at him.

 

‘Are you kidding? I was shit. I had to do twice as much work as anyone else to get the same result.’ He laughed.

 

‘What? You were so smart! Ms. Cheryl always gushed about how intelligent you are!’ She smiled widely, but her words made Louis’ smile fade.

 

‘Mom.’ He stated curtly. ‘Ms. Cheryl was my teacher in primary.’ He said, looking at her blankly, waiting for her to amend her mistake. ‘I was in another school after that.’ He trailed off, watching her mouth pursed tightly. ‘Hogwarts? Remember?’

 

‘Shh!’ She said, looking around them. 

 

‘Why?’ He asked. ‘They wouldn’t know what Hogwarts is even if they heard the name.’

 

‘Louis, you know they can’t know about any of it.’ She smiled sadly.

 

‘I know.’ He sighed. ‘I know, but… them hearing the name of the school I’m teaching at won’t jeopardize that. I just… I wish I could just talk to you about it.’ He murmured softly.

 

‘Oh baby,’ She sighed, looping an arm around his neck. ‘Come here, sweetie.’ She hugged him closely, him barely salvaging the glass of wine she was squishing between them. ‘It will be fine, you know. They’ll get older. Lottie and Fizzy know already.’

 

‘I know.’ He said, wanting really badly to just ask for what he needed, but on the other hand he just wanted her to get it without him having to ask for it. 

 

He just didn’t particularly want to rock the boat. He was afraid that if he suddenly came in with years of hidden resentment, it would just make everything awful, and no matter how flawed their relationship might have been, he loved his family. He had no doubt at all that they loved him. 

 

They just never got him. It seemed like all of them were made out of the same thing and Louis was the only one sticking out like a sore thumb. They all had the same goals and same priorities and his were the only ones different.

 

So he spent two days with his family. He played with the twins, he drank way too much chardonnay with his mom, and he even talked to his dad about Harry, blushing at how his dad teased him mercilessly. 

 

It was a good few days, which is why he felt so guilty when he went back to Hogwarts and sighed in relief upon coming back. 

 

It was the New Year’s evening,and  Louis could hear the faint noise of a party being held in Hufflepuff’s common room for the kids who stayed behind for Christmas break. He moved quietly coming inside his apartment. It was dark, but still it felt warm. There was his shit sprawled all over the place. Robes he was wearing before he went home for Christmas thrown over the couch. The photos of him and the boys on the bookcase - Niall showing him the middle finger and Harry winking at him in the first one.

 

He smiled softly, touching the pictures for a brief moment before he sent his briefcase flying into his bedroom and quickly went outside, anxious to meet the boys after few days. He flew through the castle and went outside, his jacket getting undone by the harsh wind, he was in such a hurry, but something stopped him once he saw a light in the window in the Maliks’ Hut, making him come closer and peer inside.

 

Niall was standing on the chair with a glass of beer, the fluid spilling over the brim as Niall waved it widely, saying something with an excited smile. Zayn was sitting in the armchair, his legs thrown over the side of it, a small fond smile on his face, watching Niall closely, as he usually was. Liam was sitting cross-legged on the couch, bouncing happily with a dopey smile on his face and an askew party hat on his head. Harry was laying next to him on the couch his feet in Liam’s lap and he was painting his nails, his tongue peeking out of his mouth in concentration, making Louis snort fondly. 

 

He felt himself getting closer to the window, his heart bursting with so much affection towards those men in there that he could barely stand it. 

 

He turned around on his heel suddenly, all the things clicking in his head, and moved to the door not bothering to knock, only opening the door with a wide smile.

 

‘Harry!’ He exclaimed, making the other man jump where he sat on the couch and probably smudge his nail polish.

 

‘You called me by my first name.’ Harry said a bit in awe, his eyes wide open, a small smile playing on his lips.

 

‘I did.’ Louis nodded. ‘Go out with me.’ He added, coming to stand beside him, making the other boys gasp in surprise even though they had been waiting for this literally for months.

 

‘Whaat…?’ Harry said, his smile becoming a little confused.

 

‘Go out on a date with me, Mr. Styles.’ Louis murmured, getting on one knee making Harry blush like a virgin bride. 

 

‘O-okay.’ Harry stuttered out, taking Louis’ hand. 

 

And if Louis thought that he enjoyed the tentative courtship he had going on with Harry for past few months, it was nothing compared to how it felt holding his hand sitting next to their friends, drinking champagne and dodging the all knowing looks from Zayn. 

 

The midnight came and went, and after a few hours they left Niall and Zayn to their own devices and Louis went to walk Harry to his apartment.

 

‘So… a date, huh?’ Harry asked with a small smile. ‘What can I expect from that?’ 

 

‘Hmmm…’ Louis murmured pretending to think about it and bringing Harry close by his waist. ‘A little bit of this maybe,’ he whispered putting them both into motion and swaying them to the music in his head.   
  
‘Dancing under the stars huh?’ Harry murmured, his hands tightening on Louis’ neck.

 

‘Among other things.’ Louis murmured.

 

‘Can’t wait to find out then.’ Harry whispered back, and just as Louis started to lean in to brush their lips together, Harry stepped back with a glint in his eye. ‘That’s why we should probably get some sleep, don’t you think?’ He quipped with a teasing smile.

 

Harry was right. He should be going to his apartment, he should. 

 

But on the other hand, he was already home. 


End file.
